"You see, Missy," said the man quickly, in almost his old manner,
"you see how it turns out. It was a bad plan, I guess--you can see
how your cousin takes it. You'll have to--to tell your uncle how it
worked; it's one on me, all right."
"Suppose we put it all back and--oh Lord, what's the use?" he ended
suddenly.
"Cut it short--what the hell do I care?"
He dropped suddenly into the chair behind him; his head fell over on
his arms, and the stiff hat rolled along the floor.
The young man stared curiously at him, but the weakness was genuine;
every muscle was relaxed.
Lindsay's face softened a little. "As far as that goes, you're quite
right," he said curtly, "though it's a little late in the day. Look
here, Caroline. Mr.--Mr. Barker and I don't agree very well on the
best way to teach people to lock their houses. I--it seems to me a
pretty poor joke. Uncle Joe never meant it to go quite so far, I'm
quite sure," he concluded jerkily. "I--I want to do the best thing
all round, but," looking anxiously towards her for a second, "this
is a little too--a little too--"
Her face cleared at his change of tone. "I know," she returned
eagerly, "I know just what you mean, Lindsay. I think so, too.
Anybody would think--"
"That's it," he said briefly.
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